With Houston in the grip of World Series fever, it might be easy to miss the city's basketball team getting off to another strong start. The Houston Rockets will try to continue their under-the-radar success when they visit the Charlotte Hornets in the second of a three-game road trip on Friday.

LaMarcus Aldridge's level of comfort with the San Antonio Spurs was a hot topic of conversation last season and through the summer while his name was surfacing in trade rumors, but a contract extension signed on the eve of training camp quieted the speculation. Aldridge is certainly looking comfortable early in 2017-18 and will try to lead the Spurs to a fifth straight win to begin the campaign when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Paul Millsap made the All-Star team in all four seasons he spent with the Atlanta Hawks. Millsap looks to remind the Hawks of his prowess on Friday, when he returns to Atlanta as a member of the Denver Nuggets.

The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the early surprises in the NBA and they will try to stay hot when they travel cross-town to Madison Square Garden to meet the New York Knicks on Friday. Winners of a total of 41 games over the last two seasons, the Nets opened what many thought would be another difficult campaign with a loss, but they've rebounded with three wins in four games.

Minnesota and Oklahoma City already played one instant classic in the last week and will try for another when the Thunder visit the Timberwolves on Friday. Minnesota guard Andrew Wiggins banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer on Sunday to give the Timberwolves a 115-113 road win, seconds after Thunder star Carmelo Anthony had given his team the lead with a 3-pointer.

The Golden State Warriors still aren't quite where they want to be, but at least they're starting to win some games. The Warriors will try to tighten some things up and pull off their third consecutive win when they host the Washington Wizards on Friday.

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a big win against one of the Eastern Conference's top teams and they hope for a repeat performance when they host the Toronto Raptors on Friday. A key 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - one of five Lakers in double figures - helped the Lakers pick up a 102-99 overtime win against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.